TOKYO, Dec 10 ― Tokyo stocks closed lower today as investors locked in profits, following falls on Wall Street as US lawmakers disagree over a proposed stimulus package.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.23 per cent, or 61.70 points, to 26,756.24, while the broader Topix index was down 0.18 per cent, or 3.21 points at 1,776.21.
“Japanese shares are dominated by sell orders on profit-taking as falls in US stocks are weighing on the market,” said Yoshihiro Ito, senior strategist at Okasan Online Securities.
“Expectations are high that the US Congress will reach an early agreement on a stimulus,” he said, but added that “US shares dropped as investors disliked uncertainty over negotiations on the economic relief package”.
The dollar fetched ¥104.42 (RM4.06) in Asian afternoon trade, against ¥104.21 in New York late yesterday.
In Tokyo, SoftBank Group soared 10.90 per cent to ¥8,306 as the value of its stake in US food delivery app DoorDash rose massively following its initial public offering.
“The Nikkei's loss was significantly trimmed by SoftBank's gain today,” Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities, told AFP.
Sony was down 0.54 per cent at ¥9,818 after it announced it had agreed to buy US anime streaming giant Crunchyroll from AT&T for US$1.17 billion.
Chip-linked shares were lower, with chip-testing equipment maker Advantest dropping 3.70 per cent to ¥7,540 and chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron down 2.01 per cent to ¥36,420.
Olympus dropped 1.31 per cent to ¥2,220.5 and Fujitsu lost 0.68 per cent to ¥13,740.
Nissan slumped 2.22 per cent to ¥561.3 but Toyota jumped 1.78 per cent to ¥7,480. ― AFP
